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More than 1.1 billion shoes were sold in the United States in 1997, according to information provided by Kosciusko County Solid Waste Management District Education Coordinator Sue Studebaker.
And each of those shoes that ends up in the landfill will be there for more than 200 years before it begins decomposing.
In November, 15 local schools and organizations participated in a shoe reuse program, sponsored by the District in conjunction with the Northeast Indiana Solid Waste Management District, to keep the shoes from the landfills for at least a few more years.
Studebaker said, "We collect all the shoes and (Northeast SWMD) comes down and picks them up." The shoes are then sorted, weighed and shipped to the Martin County SWMD. Martin County's District has a contract with a company out of Houston, Texas, that buys the shoes. All the money will be returned to the schools and organizations.
"This company pays by the poundage," said Studebaker. "We don't keep (any of the money)."
The Texas company will put the shoes in 50-pound bags for families, mostly in Africa, to buy at a very low price. Studebaker said some of the people who will get the shoes have never worn shoes before.
Also, Studebaker said, they usually don't take high heels and boots, but the Northeast SWMD has another organization interested in them this year.
So many bags, boxes and barrels of shoes were collected, they could not all be taken in one truck Tuesday. Studebaker said, "All the schools had more than they did in past years."
Schools and organizations who participated in the shoe reuse program included: Sacred Heart Elementary, Redeemer Lutheran Elementary, Wawasee High School, Milford Elementary, Tippecanoe Valley Middle School, Akron Elementary, Leesburg Elementary, Lakeview Middle School, Claypool Elementary, Eisenhower Elementary, Harrison Elementary, Knights of Columbus Council 6323 in Syracuse, Lucas Real Estate in Warsaw, Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church and R.R. Donnelley & Sons.
"If I had to say who had the most shoes," Studebaker said, "I'd say it was between Knights of Columbus and Sacred Heart."
Since more than 350 million shoes were sold in the United States alone, Studebaker said, the reuse program will help divert them from the landfill. "Think how many more aren't produced in the U.S."
